Egyptian VC outfit 138 Pyramids will set up an SME-focused private equity company after it yesterday got the go-ahead from the Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA), Chairman Nevine El Tahri told us, confirming a local press report. The Pyramid Private Equity Company will be established with EGP 10 mn in initial capital, and will invest in local SME manufacturers and exporters with annual revenues as low as EGP 50 mn.

Who owns what? 138 Pyramids is a limited partner in the company and Egypt-based investment management firm Delta Inspire, which will manage the firm, is a general partner, El Tahri said, without disclosing the precise equity split.

Another EGP 990 mn to go: Pyramid Private Equity wants to have deployed EGP 1 bn by 2024, and wants to bring financial institutions into the fold to become partners and ramp up investments, El Tahri tells us, without going into further details.

Board members include: El Tahri, who’s also 138 Pyramids founder and board member of the Sovereign Fund of Egypt (SFE), Misr Financial Investments Managing Director Khalil El Bawab, Marketing Mix founder Randa Abdo, and former development minister and former head of the Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZone) Ahmed Darwish.